(CNN) – Sen. John McCain made a mistake in 2008 by picking then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview that aired Sunday.
Cheney led the vice presidential search for Gerald Ford in 1976, and again for George W. Bush in 2000. That last search resulted in Cheney himself being selected, and he served as Bush's number two for eight years.
– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
On Sunday, Cheney said Palin failed to meet the number one requirement for a vice president: a readiness to step into the top job if needed.
"Based on her background, she was only governor for two years, I don't think she passed that test of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News.
Cheney, who said he knows and likes Palin, argued that considerations about which demographic a potential candidate could help pull in clouded the 2008 decision to put Palin on the ticket.
"Those are important issues but they should never be allowed to override that first proposition and I think that's one of the problems that McCain had," Cheney said.
READ MORE: McCain, Liz Cheney push back on Palin 'mistake'
– Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
And he has just come to this conclusion? Thank God the country realized that during the last election. Hopefully the country will also realize the mistake the Republicans are making this time out with Romney. A candidate only the rich could like.
It took chicken-hawk and multiple draft dodger Cheney four years to reach this brilliant deduction?
The only president with a worse pick was Dubbya
And according to the British press....ROMNEY IS WORSE THAN SARAH PALIN!!
Dick Cheyney reminds me of flip flopping Mitt Romney. If John MaCain had won the election, Sarah Palin would have been a hero and she would have gotten all the praise for what she brought to the table...arrogancy, humor and stupidy. But now she's being rediculed by the very same Party that supported her because they lost the election. Let's face it, its either you are with someone or you against them but you can't say you support someone for their political prowess and then turn against them because things didn't go your way in the end. There's is a word for that...Hypocrisy! There's another word for that...Flip flopping. And there's yet another word for that...Republican!
McCain's choice of Palin as his Veep helped win the Democrats a Presidency. Please Mitt, do it again.
Cheny should be in prison. His association with Kenneth Lay of Enron, his sweetheart, no-bid contracts with Halliburton, and the falsified intelligence data were all high crimes. The scam to start the war led to the death of over 4,500 Service members and tens of thousands wounded. The Iraqis may have lost nearly 200,000 and yet they were not even associated with 9/11. This draft-dodging criminal is a card-carrying POS.
The mistake wasn't Palin, the mistake was McCain.
I wonder if the twit will have a response?
So Obama's experience was any better???
---------------------–
Why evidently, yes, it was. President Obama's education, drive, IQ, and ability to think globally are just a few of the things that got him where he is. The Queen of Crosshairs is neither respected politically nor is she leadership material. She's proven it time and time again.
You posters comparing Palin to Obama are missing one important point. The presidential candidate picks the VP candidate. Cheney is saying that when they do so, they ought to choose someone who would be ready to assume the presidency if required. Every presidential candidate thinks they are ready to be president; you need that kind of ego for the job. And it is the people, not an individual or team of advisors, that picks the presidential candidates and eventually the president as well. Also, even if Obama was not ready to be president in 2008, based on his experience, he is the only one running for the job now that can claim on the job experience. He knows what it means to be president; Romney does not have a clue.
Wise people knew THEN she was a bad pick, so Cheney, you must be stupid. Think about that.
Thanks a lot for you input on this, Dick. You must know about making stupid choices.
Yes, Cheney is a draft-dodger. But he's also one of the many Chicken-Hawk Cons
who are all for war, as long as you're the one who goes and does the fighting.
and dick had a 10% popular rating
Well Palin might have been the worse mistake the Republicans made, but Chaney was the worse mistake the Country made
How about Barry Dunham's selection of Neil Kinnock?
Thanks captain obvious
Cheney creeps me out but he is correct that Palin was not ready for the repsonsibilities nor had the background and knowledge to be in an executive position such as Vice President. It is amazing she ever became governor. Alaska is not Califormia and thankfully we never had to find out how bad a choice she was. The problem is the Republican party has been pandering to the far right and has lost credibility and sensibility. There is no statesman behavoir and leadership involves learning how to compromise for the good of all Americans, not to please a political party. I personally am angry with the nonsense and have had a clear view for four years on the barricades and tamtrums forced unto not only Obama but the American people. Their obstructionists approach to running government is dangerous as it polarizes our nation and damages the reputation and slows further economic advances. Republicans are masters at double talk. Call it flip-flopping or b.s. -it is what it is.
How can Cheney dare saying that?? Who did he vote for in 2008? Was he also voting for mistake???
Cheny has NO soul...
It has been reported time and time again that this election is going to be centered mostly on the economy. Remember the saying "its the economy stupid?." For two years Mitt Romney has toured the country telling the American people that he is more qualified and equipped to fix the economy because of his business and entrepreneural experience and success. Then if so, why hasn't Mitt Romney selected experienced and successful business mogul and entrepreneur Donald Trump as his running mate? I sense hypocrisy and lies here once more. Obama/Biden/Roberts 2012!
Soon, War criminal Cheney will be saying that the GOP made the biggest mistake in picking Romney to run for president of this country. Just wait and see. The Repubs are an embarrasment and they just can't stop pointing fingers on one another.
I thought Palin won the debate with Biden. Much of what Biden said so confidently turned out to be wrong. If it was a scored test using an answer key, Palin would have completely defeated Biden. Hey Cheney where are the WMDs?
Says the worst VP ever....
"Each administration is different. There is no reason why Sarah Palin can't be a successful vice president in a McCain administration." ~~ Dick Cheney (Sept 8, 2008)